Terminals are typically crimped onto wires by means of a terminal applicator which is operated by a conventional press. Such a press and applicator arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,950 which issued May 25, 1965 to Sitz and is incorporated herein by reference. Such applicators include two crimping die sets, one for crimping the terminal onto the conductor of the wire and the other for crimping the strain relief portions of the terminal onto the insulated portion of the wire. Each crimping die set includes a crimping bar, or punch, and a mating anvil. The anvils are usually fixed stationary with respect to the base of the press while the crimping bars are carried by and reciprocate with the ram into and out of crimping engagement with their respective anvils. This type applicator has no provisions for sensing and measuring the force imposed on a terminal during the crimping cycle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,186, on the other hand, which issued Aug. 15, 1989 to Yeomans and is incorporated herein by reference, shows a crimping press that utilizes a strain gage attached to the crimping anvil to sense the force imposed on the terminal. Since crimping presses and terminal applicators are arranged to accept a variety of different crimping die sets, with this arrangement a strain gage must necessarily be attached to each anvil. This, of course, is an added expense and requires the reconnection of the electrical connections every time the die set is changed. Efforts were made to locate a strain gage within the base of the applicator, however, these efforts were not successful due to the lack of room under the anvils and the difficulty in separating the wire crimping force from the insulation crimping force.
The present invention provides the desired sensor and means for measuring the force imposed on the terminal by the crimping of the terminal onto the wire conductor exclusive of the insulation crimping force, while permitting the exchange of die sets without the need to reconnect the sensor element.